Back on the 17th I found the above-capped op-ed at NYTimes.com (original here: www.nytimes.com/2012/02/18/opinion/blow-santorum-exalts-i… ). The piece talks about Santorum’s "increasingly unhinged" public comments. This is an understatement to a guy like me. I feel like my right to free thought hinges on my respect for the right of others to free thought. In other words, if I start saying things like "you’re belief in a god is ridiculous" I open myself up to people saying things to me like "your lack of belief in a god is ridiculous." So, I try to hold my tongue.

Of course, religious folks fall just short of telling me my lack of faith is ridiculous, as it is, and based on the way Santorum talks, it seems like a lot of folks with similar beliefs would like to shape government based on these beliefs. (And they worry about Islam?) Here’s a cutting from the above op-ed:

Also last week, he suggested that liberals and the president were leading religious people into oppression and even beheadings. I kid you not. Santorum said: “They are taking faith and crushing it. Why? When you marginalize faith in America, when you remove the pillar of God-given rights, then what’s left is the French Revolution. What’s left is a government that gives you rights. What’s left are no unalienable rights. What’s left is a government that will tell you who you are, what you’ll do and when you’ll do it. What’s left in France became the guillotine.”

Then, just today I saw Santorum quoted as saying (source: www.cbsnews.com/8301-505267_162-57385629/romney-santorum-… ): "To say that people of faith have no role in the public square? You bet that makes you throw up."

Santorum was bagging on a speech JFK used to explain that he wasn’t going to force his religious views on America. Instead of, as another CBSNews.com article points out (source: www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57385430-503544/santorum-… ):

Santorum said Kennedy "was trying to tell people of faith that you will do what the government says, we are going to impose our values on you."

So, Santorum says JFK and the USG shouldn’t force their religious views on We The People. Fine, but how can he turn around and wear his religion on his sleeve, thus suggesting he’ll impose his religous values on us?

Of COURSE people of faith have should have a role in the public square, but their faith itself? Yeah, bad idea. We need facts to take center stage, not belief in a magical being protecting us from pollution, rising sea levels and a dramatically changing climate (not to mention AIDS, cancer and terrorist bombings). And that’s what scares me. Maybe it’s just the media making America seem more prone to Believery than we really are, but it really seems like we’ve become the subject of an episode of "The Twilight Zone" where people trust a malfunctioning computer in a cave instead of trusting facts and common sense to protect themselves from danger and stagnation. Only, in this case, the computer is Christianity.

That’s the real danger of believing in God and trusting men in robes (or white collars) to provide all of your guidelines for living your life–you forget to think for yourself. Regardless of whether there is or isn’t a God, we all know humans get things wrong all the time. So how can you blindly assume that your pastor or priest, rabbi or imam, hasn’t misunderstood the will of the being that created the entire freakin’ universe?

Let’s be honest–the universe is a vast and amazing place. The idea that any human can even come close to understanding what God wants indicates an amazing amount of ego and hubris. In the end, you really MUST make your own judgment and NOT trust only religion and religious people, because what if they’re wrong? Either way, you’ll have only yourself to blame for your decision, so why not take responsibility for yourself?